Director of Program Management

Quetzal Therapeutics

About The Position

Reporting to the Vice President, Global Program Leadership, the Director of Program Management partners with functional leaders across Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs, CMC, Clinical Operations, Medical Affairs, Quality, Biometrics, and external vendors to support successful planning and execution of Quetzal's development strategy. The role maintains integrated program and detailed project plans, including NDA filing and commercial launch planning; drives cross-functional alignment; manages risks and dependencies; and communicates clearly with executive leadership. The Director develops and maintains integrated development plans, translates program strategy into executable plans, and drives delivery against objectives, milestones, and timelines. The role supports cross-functional planning and execution, regulatory submissions, commercial launch readiness, governance and executive reporting, financial and resource planning, vendor oversight, and continuous improvement of program management practices. This is a visible, hands-on opportunity to help shape the Clinical Operations team and strengthen company processes grounded in compliance, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences, Public Health, Pharmacy, Engineering, or a related discipline.
At least 8 years of experience in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or life sciences environments.
At least 5 years of program or project management experience supporting drug development programs.
Demonstrated understanding of clinical development and regulatory processes.
Strong leadership, communication, and organizational skills.
Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams without direct authority.
Experience supporting clinical-stage development programs.

Nice To Haves

Oncology, hematology, or rare disease experience.
Phase II or Phase III development experience.
PMP certification.
Advanced degree (MS, MPH, MBA, PharmD, or PhD).
Startup or emerging biotechnology company experience, including governance.
Experience in startup or high-growth company environments.

Responsibilities

Develop and maintain integrated development plans and detailed project plans for Quetzal's development programs.
Partner with program team functional leaders to define strategy, conduct scenario planning, and translate strategy into executable plans.
Drive cross-functional execution against approved program objectives, milestones, and timelines.
Identify and manage program-level risks, assumptions, interdependencies, decision points, and mitigation plans; generate and maintain formal risk logs.
Develop and manage integrated program timelines, critical path analyses, scenario analyses, and contingency plans.
Track program progress and proactively identify risks, delays, and resource challenges.
Coordinate and facilitate cross-functional program team meetings; drive accountability and follow-up on decisions and action items.
Promote collaboration among internal stakeholders and external partners, and ensure timely communication of goals, deliverables, and program updates.
Support vendor oversight through PM-to-PM partnership and evaluation of vendor performance.
Support the Program Team and functional teams in generating critical project plans aligned with the overall development plan.
Partner with Regulatory Affairs to generate and oversee NDA and ex-US submission plans, identify critical-path activities and risks, support scenario planning, and ensure timely cross-functional delivery.
Prepare dashboards and graphics for program team and executive communications and discussions.
Partner with functional stakeholders to generate and oversee the commercial launch plan, align it with submission and integrated program plans, and support launch readiness.
Identify gaps and risks to launch plans and proactively escalate and mitigate them.
Develop program dashboards and status reports, prepare executive presentations, and support governance meetings and portfolio reviews.
Support budgeting, forecasting, resource planning, expenditure monitoring, and resource allocation with Finance and functional leaders.
Support evaluation of outsourcing strategies and vendor performance.
Implement program management best practices, tools, and processes; promote operational excellence and contribute to building Quetzal's program management capabilities.